Photo by Larry Chen, courtesy of Formula DRIFT

The 15-year-old drifting sensation Hiroya Minowa has claimed his first victory in only his second season of Formula DRIFT competition, setting the record for the youngest winner in series history. Minowa set the record following the recent "Round 3" at Orlando Speed World in Florida.

The following excerpt is from Formula DRIFT's Orlando results announcement:

There's been a buzz and palpable expectation surrounding Hiroya Minowa (Japan) ever since he joined the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship in 2024 as a 14-year-old. Pundits, teams and fans alike knew he was something special, and scoring two podiums in his Rookie season confirmed the speculation.

Born to drifting parents and brought up on a diet of sim racing and competitive seat time, Minowa was a race winner before arriving in Formula DRIFT, but few could have predicted his rise would be quite so meteoric. 

After placing seventh in Round 2, Minowa automatically qualified for Orlando and was paired against double FD PROSPEC Champion Dmitriy Brutskiy in the Top 32 heats. Unfazed by his more experienced opposition, the driver of the Enjuku Racing / BC Racing / Jerry Yang Racing Toyota GT86 claimed the win, albeit by a narrow margin, and advanced.

Minowa's Top 16 opponent was the hard-charging Connor Shanahan (Ireland), who used his Shanahan 79 Toyota GT86 as a stick to beat Minowa's Toyota. Tapping on the door in Outside Zone 1, Inside Clip 2 and Outside Zone 2, the Irishman was clearly signaling his intentions. However, the favor was returned on the second run where Minowa pushed back, unintimidated and receiving rapturous support from the grandstands. Again, Minowa was awarded the win thanks to the precision of his lead run.

Unfortunately, the Top 8 would bring an end to his run. Matched against three-time FD PRO Champion Fredric Aasbo (Norway) in the Rockstar Energy Toyota GR Supra, the result was inevitable. Or was it?

On his lead run, Aasbo executed a signature pass with every zone filled at infeasible speed. The only problem was Minowa was glued to the Supra's door. On their second run, Minowa was able to replicate the Norwegian's precision but Aasbo uncharacteristically struggled to duplicate the proximity. It was unimaginable and yet inevitable that the judges awarded the win to the 15-year-old who would surely succumb to Aurimas Bakchis (Lithuania) in the Top 4!

Again, Odi has a fearsome reputation for speed and precision at the wheel of the Feal Suspension / GT Radial Nissan S14.9. And it appeared well deserved at the start of the run until Minowa nestled into Odi's door through Outside Zone 2. With the roles reversed, a small mistake by Bakchis where the two cars touched saw the veteran drop back and was unable to regain the proximity. 

Advancing to the Final, Hiroya faced Jhonnattan Castro (Dominican Republic) in the Metaldom GR86 who was experiencing his own breakthrough moment. In Round 2, Castro finished fourth, which was his best result since joining the FD PRO Championship in 2012. Reaching the Final in Orlando was the next milestone, created his own piece of FD history. 

Castro had dispatched Ryan Litteral (USA) in the Top 32, Ken Gushi (Japan) in the Top 16, Branden Sorensen (USA) in the Top 8 and claimed a tough One More Time victory over Matt Field (USA) in the Top 4. 

Field would finish fourth driving the Borla Performance / GT Radial / Heat Wave Visual / Leen Customs / Drift Cave Motorsports Corvette. It was a personal victory, representing his best result since placing in the Top 4 in the 2024 St Louis Round. The points tally bumped Field from ninth to seventh overall.

In the Final, Castro succumbed to Minowa's dominance. The Dominican driver's lead run was impeccable but he couldn't unglue his Japanese opponent. And with Minowa in the lead, Castro made a small error at Inside Clip 2 and was unable to regain the proximity. At this level of the sport, one mistake will bury you and the judges awarded the victory to Minowa, who became the youngest winner of any Formula DRIFT Round in its 22-year history.

"I'm so happy to get first place in Orlando. I want to thank my team, supporters, family and my spotter. I'm so excited to get to New Jersey. I've been pushing super-hard and will try my best at Round 4," Minowa told us after the podium celebration.

With every driver receiving ten points for a competition heat win (three points in qualifying) under the new Formula DRIFT points format, Minowa's 50-point haul saw him leap from eighth in the PRO Championship to third overall behind Deane and Aasbo.

For more information, visit formulad.com.

Photos courtesy of Formula DRIFT